46 The Secret Out Series." Crown 8vo, cloth extra, profusely Illustrated, price 4s. 6d. each. Art of Amusing. A Collection of Graceful Arts, Games, Tricks, Puzzles, and Charades, intended to amuse everybody. By FRANK BELLEW. With nearly 300 Illustrations. .' Hanky-Panky. A Wonderful Book of Very Easy Tricks, Very Difficult Tricks, White Magic, Sleight of Hand; in fact, all those startling Deceptions which the Great Wizards call "HankyPanky." Edited by W. H. CREMER. With nearly 200 Illustrations. Magician's Own Book. Ample Instructions for Performances with Cups and Balls, Eggs, Hats, Handkerchiefs, &c. All from actual experience. Edited by W. H. CREMER. With 200 Illustrations. Magic No Mystery: Tricks with Cards, Dice, Balls, &c., with fully descriptive working directions; How to train Performing Animals; the art of Secret Writing, &c. Numerous Illustrations. Merry Circle (The), and How the Visitors were Entertained during Twelve Pleasant Evenings. A Book of New Intellectual Games and Amusements. Edited by Mrs. CLARA BELLEW. With numerous Illustrations. or Secret Out; or, One Thousand Tricks with Cards, and other Recreations; with Entertaining Experiments in Drawing Room White Magic." Edited by W. H. CREMER. With 300 Engravings. ** The above Series of Books contain Explanations of all the most startling feats of legerdemain performed by the celebrated Prestidigitateurs, Robert Houdin, Frikell, Dr. Lynn, Professor Anderson, and others. CHATTO & WINDUS, Piccadilly, W. PREFACE. UNTIL within the last few years there was scarcely any work in English, that I am aware of, on the subject of Pyrotechny, worth reading, with the exception of an Article in "Brewster's Cyclopædia," by MacCulloch; and this, besides being accessible to only a few, having been published in 1830, made no mention of colours, which form the most beautiful part of the art. In the first year of the present century a treatise was written by a Captain Jones, which has been copied, in whole or in part, into almost every work since published. The greater portion of it is absurd and impracticable, and shows that it was written by a person who undertook to teach what he had not learnt. The first work of any real utility that came under my notice was a series of papers by "Practicus." This was soon followed by another, varied by the new chemical nomenclature. |